Chaplain  Leo 

AND  HIS 

MESSAGE 

FIELDS 


Four  Years  of  Service 

HAPLAIN  ALBERT  LEO,  six  times  cited  for 
heroism  in  the  French  army,  honored  as  one  of  the 
bravest  of  the  brave  even  among  the  Alpine  Chasseurs, 
with  whom  he  served  during  most  of  the  war,  later 
a  chaplain  with  the  Ninth  Division  in  the  Second 
Battle  of  the  Marne,  has  recently  come  to  this  country 
to  tell  the  story  of  the  fiery  trial  of  French  Protestants  in  the  formerly 
invaded  regions. 

The  experiences  of  these  people,  living  for  years  in  the  face  of 
the  cannon  blast,  helpless  victims  of  the  foe’s  cruelty  and  caprice, 
were  comparable  only  to  those  of  their  predecessors,  the  Huguenots, 
in  the  period  of  persecution  which  followed  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes. 

No  one  is  better  fitted  to  tell  this  thrilling  story  from  its  begin¬ 
ning  than  Chaplain  Leo,  who  saw  and  suffered  with  his  fellow  Protes¬ 
tants  from  the  first  Marne  to  Sedan,  gave  them  the  ministrations  of 
religion  in  the  intervals  of  battle  and  march,  and  traversed  the  dev¬ 
astated  area  from  the  Somme  to  Alsace  while  the  German  armies 
were  at  the  height  of  their  terrible  power. 

Severely  Wounded  in  Action 

Wounded  in  several  places  by  shell  fragments  in  the  great  French 
drive  for  the  heart  of  the  then  occupied  region  at  the  Chemin  des 
Dames  in  April,  1917,  his  life  was  despaired  of,  but,  with  the  help 
of  his  vigorous  constitution,  he  recovered  after  a  year’s  invalidism 
from  his  wounds  and  the  succeeding  complications  of  incipient  gan¬ 
grene,  inflammation  of  the  lungs  and  pleurisy.  When  returning 
strength  enabled  him  to  satisfy  his  desire  to  return  to  the  firing  line, 
he  showed  in  the  last  months  of  the  war  the  same  “absolute  contempt 
of  danger  and  entire  self-sacrifice”  which  the  chief  of  the  66th  divi¬ 
sion  had  noted  officially  in  his  first  citation. 

Chaplain  Leo  comes  to  the  United  States  with  a  commission  from 
the  entire  body  of  French  Protestantism  to  cooperate  with  the  Inter- 
church  Committee  for  Christian  Relief  in  France  and  Belgium,  which 
is  conducting  a  campaign  in  this  country  for  funds  with  which  to  re¬ 
store  the  ruined  Protestant  churches  in  the  former  war  zone  and 
extend  temporary  help  to  their  struggling  pastors  and  congregations. 
The  committee,  after  a  careful  survey  of  the  loss  and  the  needs  of 
the  present  and  the  immediate  future,  estimates  that  the  total  sum 
required  will  be  $3,000,000. 


Ministered  to  Alpine  Chasseurs 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  Chaplain  Leo  was  pastor  of  the  Re¬ 
formed  church  at  Arachon,  near  Bordeaux,  which  he  had  been  serv¬ 
ing  for  two  years.  Like  thousands  of  French  clergymen  of  all  creeds, 
he  was  mobilized  as  a  private  soldier  early  in  August,  1914,  and  went 
to  the  front  as  an  assistant  on  a  Red  Cross  train. 

Happening  to  come  in  contact  in  Alsace  with  some  of  the  Alpine 
Chasseurs,  whom  the  Germans  called  “Blue  Devils”  on  account  of 
their  reckless  courage,  he  became  fascinated  by  the  possibilities  for 
religious  work  among  these  rough  but  sterling  men.  In  August, 
1915,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Red  Cross  section  of  the  68th  battalion 
of  the  chasseurs,  and  began  a  period  of  service  with  them  during 
which  he  was  repeatedly  decorated  for  courage,  and  became  one  of 
the  most  popular  men  of  the  command.  His  sixth  citation  said  of 
him:  “His  bravery  is  considered  a  habit.” 

Later  he  accepted  a  chaplaincy,  and  held  that  rank  at  the  close 
of  the  war. 

His  Story  of  War’s  Ruin 

Chaplain  Leo  is  in  this  country  to  tell  American  Protestants  a 
story  which  they  cannot  comprehend  alone  even  with  the  aid  of 
imagination,  for  in  this  case  fact  is  stranger  than  fiction.  In  a  wide 
belt  of  France,  he  has  reported  to  the  Interchurch  Committee  for 
Christian  Relief  in  France  and  Belgium,  the  country  is  swept  as  bare 
as  the  top  of  a  table.  No  living  thing  grows  there  and  it  is  even  dan¬ 
gerous  to  plow  or  hoe  the  land,  because  of  the  number  of  unexploded 
shells  concealed  beneath  the  surface. 

In  that  region  many  of  the  churches  are  in  ruins.  The  refugee 
congregations  are  worshipping  where  they  can,  bereft  of  worldly 
goods  and  ministered  to  by  a  scant  number  of  pastors,  some  of  whom 
are  infirm  from  wounds. 

Chaplain  Leo  tells  his  story  with  the  simple  earnestness  of  a  sol¬ 
dier,  and  the  Interchurch  Committee  believes  that  Americans  will 
hear  and  heed  it.  He  summarized  his  plea  thus  in  a  recent  address: 

“While  the  war  was  raging  most  fiercely  I  heard  that  the  Ger¬ 
mans  were  driving  heavy  attacks  near  Soissons.  Our  troops  were 
tired  out,  outnumbered.  Then  suddenly  the  rumor  spread:  ‘The 
American  Marines  are  here!’  ”  Hope  and  courage  were  renewed.  We 
had  a  great  force  backing  us.  So  it  is  with  our  churches.  The  people 
have  been  thrown  out  of  their  cities,  the  churches  have  been  destroyed, 
but  now  the  news  that  the  American  churches  are  ready  to  help  has 
already  brought  hope  and  life  to  the  discouraged.” 


Do  You  Know  That 

In  the  German  invasion  of  France  and  Belgium  many  of  the  Protestant 
churches  within  the  zone  of  military  operations  were  pounded  to  dust  heaps, 
reduced  to  mere  piles  of  stones  or  left  roofless? 

One  hundred  French  Protestant  pastors  and  theological  students  were  killed 
in  the  war  and  several  times  that  number  were  wounded? 

Refugees  returning  to  their  former  villages  and  cities  are  without  funds 
to  supply  their  own  bare  necessities  and  helpless,  therefore,  to  support  pastors 
even  if  pastors  can  be  found  ? 

The  French  can  not  raise  this  money  unassisted?  There  is  no  help  left 
except  in  America,  to  which  these  refugees  look  as  a  land  of  bounty  and  gen¬ 
erosity  ? 


As  the  result  of  a  request  from  all  the  Protestant  organizations  in  France 
and  Belgium  to  all  the  Protestant  Churches  in  America,  the  Interchurch  Com¬ 
mittee  for  Christian  Relief  in  France  and  Belgium  is  undertaking  to  raise 
$3,000,000  to  heal  the  material  wounds  so  grievously  suffered.  Its  Executive 
Committee  is  constituted  as  follows : 

Rev.  John  Y.  Aitceiison 
Prof.  Jean  C.  Bracq 
Rev.  Arthur  J.  Brown 
Rev.  W.  I.  Chamberlain 
Rev.  Francis  E.  Clark 
Rev.  Chas.  S.  Clelanii 
Plev.  Henry  S.  Coffin 
Mrs.  James  C.  Colgate 
Rt.  Rev.  J.  H.  Darlington 
Rev.  Wm.  H.  Foulkes 
Rev.  James  I.  Good 
William  A.  Harbison 
Rev.  William  I.  Haven 

Director  of  the  Campaign,  George  O.  Tamblyn 
Advisor,  C.  S.  Ward 
Treasurer,  Alfred  R.  Kimball 
Headquarters:  289  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York  City 


How  the  $3,000,000  Will  Be  Spent 

1.  Rebuilding  of  destroyed  church  property 

2.  Support  of  pastors  and  leaders 

3.  Support  of  Protestant  orphanages ,  hospitals  and  theological 
seminaries 

4.  Christian  evangelization 

5.  Relief  of  Protestant  refugees;  restoring  them  to  their  homes. 


Rev.  Hubert  C.  Herring 
Rev.  William  S.  Holt 
Mrs.  Frank  B.  Kelly 
Rev.  Frederick  Lynch 
Rev.  C.  S.  Macfarland 
Paul  G.  McIntire 
Rev.  Frank  M.  North 
Rev.  W.  W.  Pinson 
Rev.  R.  C.  Reed 
Edmond  E.  Robert 
Wm.  Jay  Schieffelin 
Rev.  Charles  J.  Smith 


